Mercury Grand Marquis fire or smoke problems

Filed Sep 1, 2022 · Acceleration, Engine · MI · fire

While driving, I came to a stop light and suddenly, the car idled high and lurched forward while my foot was on the brake, luckily, I was stopped well away from the vehicle in front of me. The car idled high and seemed to have a mind of it's own. I took the back roads home and backed into our garage. The car smelled hot, and I though I had smoked my brakes, trying to keep control of it. Later that night, I told my husband about the car's actions and he did not believe me, though my daughter who was with me at the time confirmed that the car had indeed accelerated on it's own. My husband started the car and it did idle high and get hot once again, although only parked with no one in it. He thought he knew what the problem was and we turned off the car and closed the hood and went inside to order the part. A few minutes later, we heard a couple popping noises and I opened the door that led into the garage from the basement. Smoke was coming into the house and my husband said that a flame shot over my head. The car had caught on fire under the closed hood. We called the fire department, but by the time they arrived, a good portion of the basement was on fire. The house was a total loss. My husband though that the pvc elbow under the hood was sticking closed, so that is the part we were going to order. Unsure, if that was the real cause or not. The car did not have any warning lights or any other indications of a problem before this incident.

Filed Nov 26, 2018 · Electrical, Visibility · 122,000 miles · MD · fire

My 2011 mercury grand marquis ultimate edition, was very great however it caught on fire due to the malfunction of the windshield wipers...they would come on automatically while I was driving, my windshield wiper switch would be on the off position... And the wipers only worked on a high speed seeing none of the other speeds worked...prime example I would warm up the car for 10 min...because its cold outside then I would drive, all of a sudden minutes later, my windshield wiper turn on by itself in a high speed position , I turned the wipers on so I can see if turning off would help it doesn't so clearly it has a mind of its own...as if a ghost was in it...I googled the problem..cleary there are other models of the same and different year numbers that have the same problem...they say its either the wipers motor a relay or the whole left, right indicated switch which the windshield wipers works off of...long story short my car caught on fire the morning of nov.21, 2018 a day before thanksgiving in my driveway which could have set my car on fire..had to call the fire department at 1:45am in the morning. Due to an electrical issue the car had..it looked like a movie with the car on fire. Because clearly if the car is parked and the windshield wipers motor is still trying to move with no power to the car...I loved that car so much..it almost caught my house on fire...could have exploded and put my family at risk.which it did. As much as I love ford, lincoln, mercury I am just saddens and devastated that the car I wanted loved and bought or shall I say financed is totalled buy an electrical fire that burned the inside all up in my car and engine is burned out....and the fire when I was woken up to hear this when I called 911 and was looking outside the fire that I seen started from that driver side front windshield with fire coming from the motor of the wiper onto hood

Filed Apr 19, 2017 · 136,000 miles · IL · fire

Vehicle had been driven less than one mile to work, sat for approximately 10 hours and was driven back home (less than one mile). The vehicle had been sitting in the driveway, turned off, for approximately 30 minutes when it caught fire and burned.

Filed Apr 29, 2016 · Electrical · 97,500 miles · TX · fire

I was driving on the highway I smelled a weird smell coming from the passenger side when I turned to look towards the direction of the passenger side front door it was smoking so I immediately pulled over to the side of highway as I was doing so the passenger front door caught fire. I finished pulling over turned the car off got out and pulled my fire extinguisher out trunk went to the back passenger side door in order to put the flames out in the front passenger side door. Truly upset and scared me. Can't understand why it happened. I did take the door panel off what's I figured it safe to and try to find where and how the fire started and as well to make sure the fire was completely extinguished. All I could see was some exposed wires that were partially covered in blue tape. I was very leary to drive on home but did so cautiously with windows down. Grateful I made it home and my family wasn't in the car. Took pictures they will be attached.

Filed Mar 12, 2015 · Airbags, Seat belts · 51,200 miles · FL

This started out with lights and windshield wipers cutting off and on with no apparent wearing. Also burning smell. Took it in got that fixed. I was informed this had occurred in others same exact thing. Right after that next thing was dash lights for ABS, airbag, and anti skid stay on. I took it to 2 places. Was told it was a module unit by one place the other couldn't find a reason. I have not had it fixed since I couldn't get a clear reason for it, also the car runs fine. The lights must mean something. I'm going to sell it but need to get as much a possible for it and this will take away from the buying price. Need to fix but was told the module unit repair seems strange. Please help any advice would be helpful. Thank you

Filed Sep 9, 2014 · Acceleration · 190,000 miles · VA · fire

On 9/17/2003 @ 11:23 pm, my 1996 grand marquis caught fire under the hood and was totally destroyed while sitting idle in front of my house. The henrico county fire department was called. I have the fire report, which indicates that no cause for the fire was determined. In june 2014, I received a notification from ford motor company stating that my 1996 grand marquis has a potential under hood fire risk. The issue as stated was that "ford cannot be confident that after many years in service, the speed control deactivation switch in your vehicle will not leak, posing the risk of an under hood fire. Until this repair is performed, a fire could occur at any time. A fire can occur even if the key is not in the ignition, and can occur even if the speed control system is never used." after receiving the letter, I filed a report with ford to possibly get some form of compensation for my car since I my car was insured for liability only. Ford responded back that my claim was closed due to the fact that I know longer owned the car, and they were unable to inspect it. I find this to be absurd since the car was totaled, and not available for inspection.

Filed Apr 16, 2014 · Acceleration · MS · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 mercury grand marquis. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, an unknown warning light illuminated on the instrument panel then the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the throttle body system needed to be replaced. Shortly after the repair, the vehicle caught fire and was destroyed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and the current mileages were unknown.

Filed Jul 13, 2011 · Acceleration · 63,000 miles · CA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 1998 mercury grand marquis. While the vehicle was parked the contact heard a loud booming noise from inside his home. The contact noticed flames underneath the hood. The fire department extinguished the fire and a report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a complaint was filed. The contact stated there was a recall under the federal safety agency campaign id number: 07v336000 (vehicle speed control) that may be related to the failure. The manufacturer stated the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 63,000.

Filed Jun 25, 2011 · Acceleration · 114,000 miles · FL · fire

I was driving my car, thought I smelled something burning. A couple of minutes later I had to slow down and turn right. The brake pedal was soft and I had to go all the way to floor to get the car to slow down. I stopped at my destination a couple of minutes later, popped the hood and there was a fire under the hood. It only lasted a couple of minutes, but burned up an electrical connector. The next day I had it repaired across the street at an auto electrical and marine shop. They said it was at the switch or valve that turned off the cruise control when the brake pedal is depressed. My car is a 1997 mercury grand marquis.

Filed Dec 1, 2010 · Engine · 85,218 miles · SC

While driving my vehicle home from work in the evening, the car started to putter, then smoke came pouring out from under the engine hood blocking my view from the road causing cars to race around me and almost had an accident...also started coming in the vents of the car, making me nausea. Extreme danger and fear. I had to have the car towed $65.00 and the repair estimate came in at $900.00. Cracked plastic intake manifold. ??plastic?? Who does that? I have been unemployed and only able to get part time employment. I can't afford this repair so I had to have the car towed back to my house...another $65.00. The car only has 85,218 miles on it and has been kept immaculate. I contacted mercury/ford and they said there is nothing they can do. In researching, I spent hours reading hundreds and hundreds of postings regarding the same situation...and also, the same car, ford crown victoria has the exact same problem. I understand there was a "silent recall" where only government fleet/police cars were taken care of. How nice! The replacement was with a metal part, which it should have been from the beginning. This is an extreme neglect on ford/mercury part. I believe that the investigation and action should be based on the quantity of both the crown victoria and grand marquis combined, since they are the exact same car manufactured. Please help!